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Published on: June 14, 2011
Type of content: EBOOK
Format: Unknown
Length: 17 pages
Price: FREE

Overview:

For more than two decades, business intelligence (BI) professionals have tried to shoehorn all reporting and analysis tasks into the same BI toolset and architecture, often with disappointing results. Some users find BI too difficult and confusing; others find it too limiting and underpowered. The solution to this problem is recognizing that reporting (top-down BI) and analysis (bottom-up BI) are two different tasks that require different toolsets and architectures. But unless organizations find a way to gracefully bridge these two environments, users will be hopelessly stranded in one or the other.

One way to plug the gap is to create a network of superusers—techsavvy business users—who can create ad hoc information views on behalf of colleagues in their departments. Another way is to deploy self-service BI tools, which enable users to create their own reports and dashboards and conduct their own ad hoc analyses. Whatever the output, a reporting or analysis environment needs a clear and powerful visual display to communicate the story contained within each dataset.

In this eBook, Wayne Eckerson, Director of Research for TechTarget, delves into the strategies and techniques needed for effective reporting and analysis. Learn various approaches to business intelligence and how they can help you improve your visual displays, and much more.